If you are still using 3G on your phone, it may be time to start planning ahead. MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecom operator, says it plans to shut down some of its 3G networks before 2030.
The announcement came from Selorm Adadevoh, MTN Group’s chief commercial, strategy and transformation officer, during the company’s Capital Markets Day on June 11, 2026. He said the focus right now is on shutting down 3G, and that MTN should have a solid plan in place between now and 2030 to switch off parts of its 3G network.
It is important to be clear about one thing. MTN has not announced an exact shutdown date for Nigeria specifically. What is clear is the direction telecom companies across Africa are heading in, away from 3G and toward 4G and 5G.
Adadevoh said MTN already has the technology and business readiness to make this shift in some of its markets. The plan is to free up the space that 3G currently takes up and use it for newer, more useful technology instead.
Why Telcos Want To Kill Off 3G
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The reasoning is mostly about money and efficiency. Telecom expert Osita Odafi explained that fewer people are using 3G now, yet operators are still spending resources keeping that network running.
By shutting down 3G towers and equipment, operators can free up spectrum and tower space, then use that same space to grow their 4G and 5G networks instead. That is where the money and customer demand are increasingly headed.
According to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission, 3G usage has fallen sharply. As of April 2026, only 5.32 percent of mobile connections in Nigeria were still on 3G. That makes it the second least used network technology in the country.
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Compare that to 4G, which now accounts for 54.41 percent of connections, and even 2G, which still holds a surprisingly large 35.93 percent share. 5G, which only launched in Nigeria in August 2022, has already reached 4.34 percent penetration.
A Brief History of How 3G Changed Nigeria
To understand why this matters, it helps to look back. Nigeria’s first 3G service launched in 2006, introduced by a telecom operator called Starcomms. It was originally built for laptop data cards and USB modems, giving Nigerians an early taste of mobile internet outside cybercafés.
In March 2007, the Nigerian Communications Commission issued 3G licences to MTN Nigeria, Celtel Nigeria (which later became Airtel), Globacom, and Alheri Engineering (which eventually became Etisalat, then 9mobile, and is now T2 Mobile). Each operator paid $150 million for spectrum rights.
By December 2007, commercial 3.5G services were already rolling out. This period coincided with the global smartphone boom, and 3G became the backbone of Nigeria’s BlackBerry era. BBM changed how Nigerians communicated, and by 2014 and 2015, 3G made up an estimated 45 to 50 percent of all active mobile connections in the country, according to GSMA Intelligence data.
Before 3G, getting online in Nigeria mostly meant visiting a cybercafe. After 3G, the internet moved into people’s pockets, and an entire wave of fintech apps, e-commerce platforms, and online media businesses grew on top of that connectivity.
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While MTN sounds confident about the shutdown plan, not every expert agrees Nigeria is ready. Olajide Mafolabomi, executive director at Cloud Interactive Media Group and a non-executive director at Telserve Networks, said current 4G capacity may not be enough to handle a full migration away from 3G yet.
He argued that operators need to push 4G penetration much higher, ideally to around 85 to 90 percent of connections, before shutting down 3G can be done comfortably. Right now, 4G sits above 50 percent, which suggests there is still more work to do before a full switch-off makes sense.
If your phone only supports 3G and not 4G, this is worth paying attention to over the next few years. As operators shift focus and resources toward 4G and 5G, 3G service quality could quietly get worse even before any official shutdown happens.
For now, there is no fixed date for Nigeria, and 2G is expected to stick around a while longer to support basic phones and certain services. But if you are due for a phone upgrade soon, choosing one with strong 4G support is the safer bet going forward.
3G gave Nigeria its first real taste of mobile internet and helped build the foundation for the digital economy many now rely on daily. But technology moves on, and 3G’s time at the centre of Nigeria’s telecom story is slowly running out. The exact countdown for Nigeria is still unclear, but the direction is no longer in doubt.
